Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-09-Speech-2-224"
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"en.20020409.9.2-224"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I feel that those of us concerned about maritime safety and the protection of our seas – and, in this regard, the protection of crews is naturally the most important factor – are today witnessing the culmination of one more measure within the Erika I and Erika II packages, involving a series of measures which is providing the European Union with sufficient and appropriate instruments so that it can carry out genuine preventative action and prevent accidents at sea.
The sinking of the
reminded the world of the constant risk involved in the transport by sea of oil-based products, and made the need for a better understanding and monitoring of maritime traffic off the European coastline perfectly clear. The measures the Commission has proposed have gone much further and have not been restricted to proposals solely concerned with the oil sector, but have been extended to the maritime traffic sector as a whole. Today’s proposal, which relates to the directive establishing a Community vessel traffic monitoring and information system, is a response to this concern. It sets up a global strategy with the intention of guaranteeing a high safety standard for this traffic along the whole of the European coastline, and its objective – I assure you – is prevention, through more precise identification and better monitoring of ships. It also has the objective of improving the response of the coastal authorities in the event of an accident or the risk of an accident, since, as Mr Hatzidakis mentioned, port control, the establishment of ports of refuge, and assistance to boats in difficulty are absolutely key issues.
I would like to say that, throughout the whole of the analysis and discussion of this proposal, the Commission has enjoyed Parliament’s active support, as it has on all previous reports, particularly through Mr Sterckx’s most constructive contribution. I believe that cooperation between both institutions has paid off and today we are very close to reaching a definitive agreement on a text that, from the outset, involved sensitive issues, such as the prohibition of setting sail in bad weather, the aforementioned ports of refuge, for example, or the obligation to carry transponders or black boxes. In this regard, once again I would like to praise Mr Watts’ tenacity, thanks to which we have been able to secure Council’s agreement with regard to conciliation on the directive regarding the control of the port state.
With regard to ports of refuge, I would like to say that compensation for possible damages are an absolutely fundamental feature, and here I agree with Mr Jarzembowski, if EU States are to make ports of refuge available, and this is an absolutely key issue.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to conclude by thanking Mr Sterckx once again for his magnificent work, and also all of those responsible in the appropriate committee. We share many of your concerns and we accept all the amendments you have tabled. In this regard, I would highlight the follow-up of the report after three years and the true-to-life assessment of the situation, the issue of controls in places of refuge and assistance to boats. In short, we shall accept all the amendments that have been tabled and I hope they will also be accepted by the Council, which will mean that we do not have to resort to the conciliation procedure.
We will shortly be presenting the last measure needed to complete this package, a package that will allow us to significantly improve safety in sea transport. After Commission’s approval of the measures relating to the transport of passengers, we shall present the measures relating to crews, which is the human element and always a decisive factor."@en1
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